


be alright

by eliizabethyork



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Happy ending damn it, Inspired by Lone Star 1x04, Mama Athena, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29637246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliizabethyork/pseuds/eliizabethyork
Summary: “Captain Nash, do you copy? Captain Nash? Dad!”When Bobby goes back into a burning house to save two children, Buck cannot reach him over the radio and promptly freaks out.
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash
Comments: 7
Kudos: 68





	be alright

**Author's Note:**

> Based after the Owen and TK scene from Lone Star 1x04.

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When they got the call, Bobby knew it was going to a bad one. A meth lab had gone up in flames in the middle of a crowded city block and three houses were already gone with multiple casualties, and sadly one fatality. He hated these kinds of calls with a passion. They reminded him of - well. 

The ride to the site is rather short. Maybe it just seems that way because of what they are about to face and his mounting dread. Bobby’s not too sure. When they do get there, a hellish scene has unfolded. The three houses had turned into five, and sparks were still coming from the cindering remains of the drug den. Two other fire stations had already arrived and Bobby recognized faces from the 261 and the 74. “Captain Nash!” 

“Chief Benson, what’s the status?” 

The older man from the 74 joined Bobby. “We have three fatalities now, and fourteen casualties. The rest of the block is in the process of being evacuated -” 

“Moving fast,” Bobby added. 

Benson nodded. “There are still people trapped in their homes - and because of the little ‘love’ den that started this whole mess, there could be a secondary explosion.” 

Bobby clapped Benson’s shoulder and turned, rattling off orders to his own crew. Hen and Chimney went to assist the victims that were being brought out while the others moved off into their own assignments. Bobby moved along the edge of the perimeter, his eyes landing on what was left of the first three houses. Bile rose in his stomach at the sight of what was in front of him. “Cap?” He looked into Buck’s concerned gaze. “You all right?” 

Bobby nodded and patted his arm. “Yeah I’ll be fine.” 

Seemingly satisfied, Buck left his side. Bobby heard the roar of police sirens and knew Athena was here somewhere with her own crew. They’d meet in the middle, just like they always did. 

-;

“Captain Nash!” Bobby looked up from the victim he was assessing to see Benson striding full speed in his direction. Before the other man could even open his mouth, Bobby heard a pained scream rise up through the heavy fray of the scene around them. 

A woman literally leapt up from the backboard Hen and Chimney were trying to keep her on, rushing back towards the house she had been just brought out of. “My kids! My kids are still in there!” 

_Shit._ Bobby exchanged a look with Benson, who nodded grimly. “Your man Buckley and my man Conner are still in there doing a sweep but they’re not finding the kids.” 

A paramedic took over Bobby’s spot as he followed Benson to where the woman was being restrained. “What’s her stats, Hen?” 

“Blood pressure spiked through the roof. Her O2 stats are low but she won’t lay still so we can give her more oxygen - ma’am?” The woman continued to struggle against Chimney’s grip, a third medic coming over to join them. “Ma’am, you need to calm down -” 

“Gonna have to sedate her -” 

“Wait!” Bobby kneeled down beside the woman, grabbing her hand. “What’s your name?” 

“Georgia,” the woman sobbed through the oxygen mask. “Where are my kids? Where are my babies?” 

“Where were your kids last?” Bobby asked. “Did you see them before the fire started?” 

Georgia sobbed again. “I was asleep on the couch, by the time I woke up, the fire had already blazed into our living room. I always told my Hannah and Paulie if there was a fire to put themselves someplace safe, to listen to the fire safe - safety - assemblies at - at school -” Heavy coughs broke her chatter. 

Bobby looked at Hen. “That’s the ‘stop drop and roll’ thing, right? And to get someplace towards the front of the house if you’re trapped - Georgia, is there a bathroom in the front of the house? Or a closet?” 

“ _Closet - stairs -”_ Georgia gasped before passing out. 

Hen placed the mask back over her face and they moved her into the ambulance. Bobby grabbed his radio. “Buckley, Conner, do another sweep towards the front of the house. There’s a closet either by the stairs or just underneath them -” 

A voice he didn’t recognize answered. _“We can’t, Cap! The stairs are blocked, we have to get out through the second story window -”_

“That’s Conner,” Benson said. He moved forward, barking orders at the other teams to get the ladders ready. Bobby watched as two heads popped through the upper story window, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Buck descend the ladder first. 

The ambulance doors closed after Georgia and Bobby swore under his breath, reaching out to grab a passing Eddie by the arm. “I’m going in after those kids,” he gestured towards the house. 

“I’ll go with you -” 

“No,” Bobby snapped. He ignored Eddie’s calls, pulling his mask down over his face and grabbing what he needed before moving forward and entering the house through the flaming front door. 

-;

Buck leapt lightly off the ladder and pulled his mask down. He placed a steadying hand on Conner’s back, waiting until the other man was settled onto the ground before smacking his shoulder in departure. His eyes focused on a worried looking Eddie conversely with Hen and Chimney, and to his surprise, Chimney let out a loud curse. “Hey! What the hell is going on?” 

Hen bit her lip. “Bobby went back in after those kids. He thinks he knows where they are.” 

“He _thinks?”_ Buck repeats, aghast. “He went in alone?!” 

Eddie pulls his helmet back on. “Not for long -” 

“Oh no!” Buck turned to see Benson striding towards them. “None of you are going back into that house -” 

“But _Chief -”_

“Absolutely not. I cannot control what Captain Nash does, but I can control what you do. And I happen to know that three of you have children and so I am not letting you go back into that cinderbox.” 

“So we’re just supposed to leave him in there to die?” Buck snapped. 

_“Buckley, breathe.”_ The voice that crackles from his radio is not exasperated or annoyed, only soothing. Buck clutches at it like a lifeline. _“I see the hall closet. I’m heading there now.”_ Chimney, Hen, and Eddie all held their own radios, listening intently. Benson turned away, his own hand resting on the tiny black box strapped to his chest. 

“Buck?” 

They all turned, Buck being the last one. He didn’t want to look, he didn’t want to see. He just couldn’t. 

Athena’s face is set like stone. “He went back in, didn’t he?” 

Buck nodded, swallowing back the lump in his throat. “ _Yeah.”_

-;

“Hello! Hannah! Paulie!” He shouted over the heat of the flames and the crackle of the foundation. “Call out if you can hear me, I’m a firefighter!”

Despite being only a few steps forward, the hall closet looked a mile away. Bobby pushed forward, sweat dripping down his brow. Pain flickered at his sides. Athena was going to kill him. 

“ _Hannah! Paulie!”_ He moved forward again, the heat pushing him back. His hand touches the closet door. Aha! Success! _“Stand back from the door!”_

He kicks it in and he is greeted with nothing. Bobby swore again. 

_“Cap, what happened?”_

Bobby fingered the radio on his chest. “The kids aren’t here. They must have bolted.” 

_“Check around, is there a bathroom on the first floor?”_

Bobby peered through the heavy grey haze. His oxygen tank hissed and whistled at him and he could hear voices on the other end of the line. “ _Chief Benson says that these houses all have the same floor map. There should be a bathroom off set from the kitchen.”_

“All right, heading there now.” 

The front windows blow out and erupt in flames. 

-;

When the windows explode, they all duck for cover as the glass goes flying. Buck quickly throws himself in front of Athena, almost pushing her to the ground in his haste. Eddie pokes his head up first, flicking pieces of glass off of his shoulders. It suddenly clicked in Buck’s brain what had just happened and hands are grabbing him when he attempts to run for the house. “ _Cap!”_

Looking down he sees hands that belong to Eddie, Chim, and their new recruit Rogers holding onto him, pushing him back. He struggles against their grips, straining to pull free. “ _Gerrof me! Lemme go!”_

“Buck! _Evan!”_ The sound of his full name seems to have an effect and when he looks up, he sees that Athena spoke it. Eddie shoved him towards her, he, Chimney, and Rogers moving into a little group with the chief to obviously begin to make plans.

As Athena grabs his hand, Buck clutches at his radio with the other. “Captain Nash, do you copy?”

-; 

_Stop, drop, and roll._

Bobby almost laughed as he rolled away from the window, which was now engulfed in flames. He was glad Georgia had said that, had stuck that little tidbit back into his brain. He reached for his radio as he continued to bug crawl towards the kitchen and to his grand annoyance only static greeted him when he pushed the button. He’s on his own. “ _Fireman! Call out!”_

At first there is only a wave of nothingness that answers back. Just the heat from the flames and the crackle from the foundation. 

And then…

And then…

“ _Help!”_

A surge of energy races through Bobby. _“Hannah! Paulie!”_

“We’re here!”

He’s on his feet. “Keep calling!”

Her little voice continues, accented by a hacking cough and he follows. _“Here! Here! Here!”_

His radio buzzes static.

-;

“We cannot send anyone else in there!” Benson growls. “I will not allow it!”

Buck knows if it wasn’t for Athena’s firm grip on his hand he would have tried bolting again. He reaches for his radio instead. 

“Captain Nash, do you copy? Captain Nash?” And then it just falls out of his mouth without even a blink. _“Dad!”_

Athena’s hand tightens around his and when he looks back at her, she gives him a reassuring nod. _It’s okay. It will always be okay._

-; 

Bobby pushed the crumbling bathroom door away from its hinges and the little girl threw herself into his arms. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”

“Where’s Mommy?” Paulie sobs from the bathtub. 

“She’s going to be fine, she’s on her way to the hospital. Let’s get you two outta here.” He bundles them into his arms after placing wet wash clothes over their faces and carried them out the bathroom door. “Okay kids, here’s what’s going to happen. I am going to break that window open over there and lower the two of you out it, okay? There’s going to be firefighters waiting to catch you.” 

Hannah nods in understanding, allowing him to set her back down on the floor. Bobby thanked whatever god was above that the kitchen floor was not linoleum. “ _This is Captain Nash, I’m lowering the kids out the kitchen window. Be prepared.”_

There’s no answer. Only static. _Shit._

“Okay new plan! There’s not going to be any firefighters out there, they will be out front waiting. You need to go straight to them, okay?”

Hannah and Paulie clutch at each other, ducking down to cover their heads when he breaks the window and cleans the glass off of the sill. There is an extra kick in the frame and he extends it down more with his axe. He turns to Hannah once the opening is big enough and scoops her up into his arms before pushing her out. She lands with a plop into the grass and waits with her arms out, ready to catch Paulie as he passes the small boy out. “Go!” They don’t hesitate to obey. 

Bobby goes to follow. 

-;

When he sees the kids come around the side of the house, to be caught in the waiting arms of surrounding paramedics, Buck clutches at his radio again. “He’s alive.”

“Yes he is,” Athena agrees. 

“The fireman pushed us out through the window!” Hannah shouted as Hen picked her up. “He’s still in there!”

“Where?” Benson asks her. 

“The kitchen! Paulie and I were hiding in the bathroom.”

Buck takes off like a shot. “ _Cap! Cap!”_

Eddie and Benson are both barking orders, the hoses are being brought to the back, having been aimed at the mess in front of the house. Buck ignores it all and races to the back. The opening that the kids had been pushed out is bigger and he can see Bobby’s shadowy form through the heavy smoke. “ _Dad -_ Cap! I got you, I got you!” He starts pushing at the wall, working the melting wood down more and together they succeeded. Benson is at his right, reaching in and they pull Bobby out together.

“Nash!” Benson growls, laying him back into the grass. “Talk to me!”

Bobby grasps at Buck’s hands, smiling rather stupidly as a trembling Athena approaches. _“Hey.”_

Athena chuckles wetly. “Don’t worry, chief. I’ll kill him later.” 

Buck laughs, his own tears falling loose. Bobby raises a shaking hand. “I don’t deny it.”

Benson grumbles in annoyance and steps out of the way as the paramedics push through. Bobby holds onto his and Athena’s hands with an iron grip. “Hannah and ( _hack)_ Paulie?”

“They’re fine. They’re safe, thanks to you.”

As the backboard lifts up, Buck uses his free hand to help carry him, meeting Athena’s eyes one last time.

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**Author's Note:**

> Pretty sure there’s gonna be a part 2. Leave reviews and kudos please!


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